Rounds 3 & 4 saw our young team scoring its first two individual wins (Viktor in round 3 and Luca in round 4), although we still came excruciatingly short, losing both rounds by 2.5-1.5, writes Fabio Buanne.
In Round 3 we were up against Streatham & Brixton A, holders of the title since they won the first London Online Chess League. Nevertheless, Viktor was in scintillating form – winning his game on board 1 against FM Venkataramanan Tiruchirapalli (see game analysis by Adam Bukojemski).
Game analysis by Adam Bukojemski
Rajat, on board 2 and playing his first game for Battersea, had some technical difficulties with joining the Tornelo platform which resulted in him starting the game with only 25 minutes on the clock! Despite this, he managed to go a pawn up with a promising position but had to settle for a draw in a time scramble.
Denis and Nour were unfortunately outclassed by their much higher rated opponents (both 2150 players) although to be fair they both put up a fight and Nour’s game looked unclear for a long time until a fatal mistake at move 31 condemned him to a passive defense in a worse position.
In Round 4 we faced East Ham Regals, whose players came out all guns blazing and, unfortunately for Rajat on Board 1 (game chosen by Adam for this round) and Nishchal on Board 2, played two swashbuckling attacks ending with stunning finishes. Hats off to our opponents!
Luca and Shivam on boards 3 and 4 made the final result look respectable with a win and a draw but again, that wasn’t enough for our first team win of the season.
